Luca
Luca is an altered gorilla that appears in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Luca is the leader of the gorillas guarding the Ape Gate, and a member of both the Ape Council and is the new fourth-in-command of the Ape Army. History Early Life Ten years ago, Luca was liberated from captivity by the forces of Caesar during the infamous Ape Rebellion where he joined his new comrades in the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge. He would survive the battle and find true freedom in the safety of the Muir Woods Park where he and his people would later build a large Ape Colony. Overtime, Luca's strength stood out from the rest of the gorillas in the colony and he would be promoted as the new fourth-in-command of the Ape Army. Luca's new rank allowed him to become the leader of the Gorilla Guardians whose sole purpose was to protect the village gate from any possible intruders. This also earn him a spot on Caesar's Council of Apes where he would become close friends with the village alpha and his top lieutenants. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Hunting Trip Luca took part in the deer hunt, carrying bolas and spears on his back for Caesar. His efforts came in handy as the apes were able to catch one of the fleeing deer but were force to fight and take back to the village a dead bear which had tried to take the deer for itself. Rediscovery of Humans When the apes heard a gunshot in the woods they quickly ran to its origin, where they discover to their great shock Blue Eyes with a wounded Ash confronting humans, armed with guns. After the humans put their guns away, the apes scare them off by talking and ordering them out of the woods. Caesar then tells Koba, Stone and Grey to follow Malcolm's Group in their van to make sure they leave the forest and find out just how many more humans are left. Luca tries to follow Koba's group but he is immediately halted by Caesar so he wouldn't make the humans aware they were following them. Council Meeting He then appears with the other apes in the village as they host a council meeting over what to do with the humans. He takes part in the discussion by pointing out the apes don't know why the humans had come to the forest and what they're planning. When Koba says they should just take action against the humans, Luca makes a joking remark about this to the others. The meeting ends with Caesar saying he has come up with a way to deal with the humans peacefully. March into the City The next morning, the ape army march on horseback into the ruins San Francisco where the come face to face with the remaining humans. Luca, stays silent as Caesar gives his warning to the people about staying away from the Muir Woods Park to the humans or else there will be a war. He then watches as Caesar personally tells Malcolm to never come back into the village, before leaving with his army as the humans express fear at the sight of a large army consisting of talking apes. Human Intruder When Malcolm entered the village gazing at the ape's skills and capabilities, Luca emerged from his hut and confronted the human, alerting the other gorillas to the area before capturing the intruder who quickly surrenders after seeing what he's up against. Luca and the others gorillas easily overpowered him, then dragged Malcolm through the village and bring him before the chimpanzee leader, Caesar. During the interrogation Luca continuously knocks down Malcolm to the ground in front of Caesar, most likely to prevent him from making an attempt on his king. He then sits with the other apes as they watch Caesar pass his judgement onto their human captive. Koba's Command When Koba usurps Caesar, Luca joins him and the other apes as they launch an attack on the human armory in San Francisco before heading for the colony shelter. Arriving at the city, Luca and the army engage in a fierce battle with humans; during the battle he is seen carrying two injured Apes while suffering many injuries himself only for Blue Eyes to help him get the wounded behind the back of old truck. Later on, he throws a flaming oil canister at humans and attempts to break open the gates of the human camp with the other gorillas using a ram before Koba uses the tank (which he hijacked) to blast open the gate allowing the army to enter the city and plunge it into chaos. It is unknown if he participated in the rest of the attack. Imprisonment The next day, Luca is shown imprisoned on a bus along with Rocket, Maurice, and other apes by Koba for still being loyal to Caesar. Two days later Blue Eyes appears to tell the prisoners they will soon be freed which encourages all the captured apes to tip the bus where they then break out and flee the area. Restoring Caesar to Power He joins his comrades to journey to the Rodman House where they are shocked and happy to see their leader Caesar alive and well waiting for them. Hours later, he appears with his fellow ape brothers watching Caesar fight Koba. Later in the battle he helps Rocket and Blue Eyes tend to a wounded Maurice, who had been shot on the edge of his cheek by Koba, to safety. He then finally appears when the apes are bowing down to Caesar as they prepare for the impending war with humans. Personality Luca, like most gorillas, acts very tough but can also be very humorous when he was joking with the Ape Council. It is shown he is very dedicated to his role of being placed in charge of guarding the village entrance from any possible intruders as shown when he quickly alerted the other gorillas of Malcolm's presence in the Village. He also displays a fierce loyalty to his fellow apes which is best shown during Koba's attack on the San Francisco where he was willing to risk his life to save as many wounded apes while being wounded himself in the process. This side was shown again when in aftermath of the human tower's destruction he saved or freed many wounded apes from debris. Abilities *'Animal Strength: '''Like all gorillas, Luca is extremely powerful and strong. His strength is recognized by Caesar, the ape king who trusts Luca so much that he has given him the rank of fourth-in-command and leader of the Gorilla Guardians. *'Animal Speed: Despite his massive size, Luca is much faster than he appears to be. He can run at a very fast speed that is enough to keep up with Caesar when he was hunting deer in the forest. *'Advanced Intelligence: '''He has been given the ALZ-113, through unknown methods, giving him increased intelligence. *'Expert Combatant: 'Due to him being the fourth-in-command of Caesar's Ape Army, Luca is a capable fighter. Also like most gorillas, Luca uses his massive strength and speed in battle to make him a formidable opponent. *'Expert Leader: Due to him being the fourth-in-command of the ape army, Luca is a capable leader. *'Sign Language: '''Like his fellow apes, Luca knows American Sign Language. He uses it as a way of communication. It is unknown when or who he learned it from, but it was likely that he was taught the art by the evolved apes. *'Speech:' Having been given the ALZ-113, through unknown methods, Luca has gained the ability of speech. He does not have any verbal lines of dialogue in Dawn. So It is unknown how well his English is. Relationships Friends and Allies Caesar Caesar is Luca's good friend and King. Caesar does not have much interaction with Luca but it is true that they have a great friendship due to Caesar trusting Luca enough to give him the rank of fourth-in-command which formerly belonged to one of his closest friends. When humans are rediscovered in the woods, Caesar sends Koba and a group of apes to follow them but holds back Luca to prevent the humans from knowing they're being followed. Later on, Luca is seen signing humorously to Caesar during a meeting, he is also very loyal as when Malcolm came to the Ape Village, Luca continuously knocks the human to his knees likely to protect his leader from any life threatening attempts. It was because of Luca's faith and belief in Caesar, that he and Caesar's most loyal apes were chained in a bus by Koba. When liberated by Blue Eyes, Luca regroups with Caesar and helps him overthrow Koba in order to take back his rightful place as the ape leader. Afterwards Luca is seen kneeling to Caesar with the other apes before the battle with the humans commences signifying his loyalty is only to Caesar. Blue Eyes Blue Eyes is Luca's good friend and Prince. Blue Eyes and Luca do not have much interaction but they are good friends due to Luca serving in a high rank of the Ape Army and being a member of the Ape Council. Luca joins Blue-Eyes in the ape attack on the human settlement where they carry wounded apes to safety, both watching Koba ride past them in a frenzy with disbelief at his enjoyment of the battle. When Luca and all those loyal to Caesar are imprisoned on a bus by Koba, Blue Eyes does his best to free them and once he has, the prince brings them with him back to their rightful leader. Maurice Maurice is Luca's good friend and comrade. Maurice does not have much interaction with Luca but it is likely that the two are good friends due to their strong loyalty to Caesar and both serving as elite Army commanders and Council members. It is shown Luca cares deeply for his friend as when Maurice was accidentally shot by Koba, Luca along with Rocket and Blue Eyes watched over him to make sure he was okay showing great concern for his fellow ape. Rocket Rocket is Luca's good friend and comrade. Rocket does not have much interaction with Luca, but it is likely they are good friends due to them both having a high ranking position as army commanders and serving as members of the Ape Council. Enemies Koba Koba was Luca's good friend turned enemy. Koba does not have much interaction with Luca but they were good friends and shown living in peace in the Ape Village until the rediscovery of humans. When Koba usurped Caesar, Luca seems to follow his orders without question as he participates in the human-ape-war but at some point Koba may have found out about Luca's loyalty still belonging to Caesar and had him imprisoned ''(it is worth noting that Luca watched Koba with distaste and disbelief as he rode on horseback past dead or wounded apes into the battle firing two machine guns in a wild frenzy). Luca was locked up along side Caesar's most loyal apes up on a bus but they were all freed by Blue Eyes who discovered that his father was alive. Luca joined the other apes in bringing Caesar back to his rightful place as leader of the the ape colony. Luca would then watch as Caesar and Koba fought for power but would be force to hide for cover after Koba found a gun and started shooting at the other apes wounding many of the apes. Luca, wounded himself began carrying many apes to safety and help tend to a wounded Maurice just as Caesar defeated Koba and had him dangling for life over ledge until letting him fall to his death. Notes *Luca is Buck's sucessor as Caesar's fourth-in-command and the leader of the gorillas. *Luca likely comes from the group of apes that were liberated from the San Francisco Zoo by Buck as there were countless gorillas that followed the other apes to the Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge. *It is unknown how he came to be infected with the ALZ-113 but it is likely that while the apes were attacking Gen-Sys Laboratories they stole canisters of the drug and exposed it to the other apes, or that he contracted the virus by interacting with Evolved Apes. *As of now Luca is the only gorilla in the series to use sign language which was shown when he took part in the council meeting. Trivia *Luca, Maurice, Rocket, and other apes who are loyal to Caesar and refuse to kill unarmed humans were caged and held prisoner by Koba. **Despite it being said that Luca did not kill any humans; during the attack on the city he is seen throwing a flaming oil canister at a pillar, causing an explosion which probably killed or seriously injured nearby humans in the process. *In the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - Official Movie Novelization, it is noted that Luca forms a close bond with Malcolm after himself, Caesar, Blue Eyes, Rocket and Maurice helped save Malcolm, Ellie, Alexander and their men from the dam. it is unknown whether the scenes only existed in the script that was used to write the book or whether the scenes were shot but ended up on the cutting room floor. *Luca and his predecessor Buck are the only known Gorillas to have been given the ALZ-113, as all the other gorillas in the ape colony were not given this drug on-screen. Gallery File:Caesar & Unknown Gorilla.png|Luca and Caesar. File:Flames.jpg|Luca throwing a flaming oil canister at humans. File:Blue-Eyes with Rocket, Stoned & Maurice.jpg|Luca with Blue Eyes, Maurice and Rocket as they watch Caesar and Koba fight. Stoned finds Malcolm in Ape village.jpeg|Luca encounters Malcolm. Ape Council.jpg|Luca, a member of Caesar's Ape Council. Stoned.jpeg|Luca stands tall before Malcolm Stone and other apes carries Malcolm body.jpeg|Luca and the other gorillas carry Malcolm to Caesar Caesar's Army.png|Luca with the ape army. Caesar's followers.jpg|Luca held prisoner along with other followers of Caesar during Koba's reign. Luca and apes hunting.jpeg|Luca with spears and apes hunting|link=Luca 0Luca.png Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Living Characters Category:Gorillas Category:Caesar's Ape Colony (CE) Category:Caesar's Ape Army (CE) Category:Caesar's Council of Apes (CE) Category:CE Characters